Colombia 2015 Post Mission Letter

Hello Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Edwin and I want to say thank you so much for your sponsor and prayers for mission trip to Colombia this past March. I know it has been a long time since the trip to write this post mission letter. A lot of changes at home have been happening that we have had a hard time catching up. When we got home, we hit the ground running.

To recap, we travelled to Santa Marta, Colombia, last March, 2015, with a team from our church, Forest Hill Church. Our team was truly awesome and we have grown to love them dearly. We laughed, cried, prayed, played, and loved each other so much before, during, and after the trip. In fact, some ladies from the team gave me a SURPRISE birthday dinner get together. The month of April was a rough month for me and that surprise gave me a smile and joy. Thank you Lord for their love.

During our time there, Edwin and I came to love the Colombians we met. They are a beautiful people and very compassionate. Their hearts are just beautiful, kind, and loving. I enjoyed watching Edwin trying his best with Spanish and seeing him very eager to learn their language and practice speaking it. It was funny when he was with me trying to interpret for me in the fellowship, while I saw the longing in his eyes to go over to other people to practice his Spanish. I’ve told him to GO and that I would be fine. He became excited and went over. I just love him dearly for his passion.

Sadly, I did not get to meet ONE Deaf person while I was there. But, that is okay because God is in control and he knew what we all needed.

We worked with La Esperanza (The Hope), a church and school, for the week. Our team went to their different planted churches, and some schools, to spend time with the women and children. We gave our testimonies all week long to different groups in different settings, but each time the theme of our testimonies seemed to focus on a common thread; godly marriages, families and homes are more than possible regardless of past mistakes. It was very interesting how all of our stories have similar message, yet different somehow. Edwin and I gave our testimony of how we met to a group of high school students, twice. The story of God’s redemptive love and miraculous power through our story touched many of the students and the pastor.

Personally, my favorite day in Colombia was the day we spent at La Paz (The Peace). La Paz is a poor village near Santa Marta. The poverty we witnessed there reminded me of Honduras and Haiti combined. Our team and La Esperanza worked together washing the hair of many women and children. A lot of them have lice and the La Esperanza team has been washing hair in different villages as part of their ministry. I LOVE playing and working with hair ever since I was little. So, I was very excited to do this. Edwin and our liaison washed people’s hair with special shampoo for lice. Two ladies and I brushed, braided, and played with hair the whole time. I just loved it. I got to be creative with the braids, French braid, Fish Bone, French Bun braid, and etc. Let me tell you, some of the girls’ hair, GOREGOUS! Long, thick, and beautiful hair and my hands were itchy to get into it to make it more elegant. There were few girls who had very coarse, thick, tangled, and messy hair. Their faces said it all, “Good luck with my hair.” They had no hope that we could make it beautiful. After I finished with their hair and I told them “Cabello Hermosa!” It means beautiful hair. I lead them to see a mirror and watched their faces just light up and smiled. That really touched my heart. Thank you Jesus for giving me the gift and love to do hair for others. I was so disappointed when the day was over because I wanted to do more. The next day, an elder lady who worked with us at La Paz asked me to do her hair. So, I did her hair and enjoyed it. Few other ladies saw her hair and said that she looked young. The lady smiled and told Edwin and I that I am to stay while the others go home back in the USA. We laughed. She is a special lady and made awesome carrot cake.

I too (this is Edwin) truly enjoyed the day at La Paz. But my favorite time had to be the evening we spent at the University. We arrived to join in with the regular Christian fellowship meeting; a time of talking, praying, and worship. Like Tamara said, it was an opportunity to practice Spanish, which was exciting, and it reminded me of my college days in InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. I was able to share my testimony with a young lady of how God miraculously blessed me with sign language, in broken Spanish of course. After the time of prayer and worship, our team and some of the students set out to a local college restaurant for some prolonged conversation and really huge food. Suffice it to say, the name of the dish we ate translated to “The Whale.” It was that big. It was there that Tamara and I had some eye-opening conversations with 2 more students and another team member regarding the plight of Deaf believers and non-believers in many third and developing world countries. Then we all experienced the thrilling taxi rides to the hotel. Yep that was my favorite day and it couldn’t have happened without your help. Thank you.

Again, we want to say thank you for helping us to go to Colombia to work with God’s people there. It was a special week for Edwin and I to work together side by side. We grew closer with God and each other through serving together, prayer, and sharing our lives with others. It was a blessing and we want to do more. Only God knows what our story will be for the next time.

Thank you and God bless you more than we can give you.

Edwin and Tamara Koehler